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So the dearth of posts around here is for once not linked to pure laziness. I’ve actually been quite active and busy lately. How active? Well, in case you haven’t heard, I’m training for a 10k.

Pause.

Ok, you’ve had a minute to get a hold of yourself. You can stop laughing now. Seriously. Stop laughing.

Yes, it’s Melissa writing this. You checked the author tag to see if this was a guest post, didn’t you? I don’t blame you. I am the last person in the world that I would expect to suddenly take up running. I despise running. I don’t understand the people who do it frequently for pleasure and act like they can’t live without it. When my college roomie Laura would get up and run several miles in the morning and return and be showered by the time I got out of bed, I worried about her. (I worried even more once it got icey outside and I started getting calls from the campus medical center “hi, your roommate fell again. Don’t worry, she’s going to be fine.”) But do you want to know a secret? One so shameful that I’ve kept it hidden for so long and only now am able to admit it to the world? I ENVY people who love running. Seriously, envy them. Because wouldn’t it be great to take pleasure in an activity that 1)keeps you fit 2)lets you zone out 3)allows you to push yourself by pretending you’re running from ninjas?

So my goal for this year was to start running. I dithered and avoided it for several months until I discovered that Liz has a similar bad attitude about running along with a hidden desire to become a runner. So we downloaded a Couch to 10k app that lays out a 13 week training program and signed up for the Sunburst 10k on June 4, exactly 13 weeks from our starting point, giving us no room to skip workouts. Each workout lays out a run/walk combination that progresses until you’re doing all running and no walking. Somewhere around week 10 one of the runs is like run 20 min, walk 1 min, run 20 minutes. Really? What’s the point of the 1 min walk?

Anyways, we’re on week 4 now and last night hit a milestone. We realized that we’ve gotten to the point where we’re not trying to run, not trying to just get through it like we have been the previous weeks. Last night we were actually running! Sure, we were out of breath at the end of each round, but it wasn’t as painful and unpleasant as it has been. That was huge! I’m feeling pretty proud of myself for getting to that point. And parts of it were enjoyable, even liberating. In fact during one tough round where I was ready to slow down, I just thought of Finn as he was when I left the house. Throwing a naked tantrum on the floor of his room. That’s right, a NAKED TANTRUM. Needless to say, I appreciated the fact that I was running and not at home dealing with that. That lap went by much quicker.

I also had the epiphany last week (brace yourselves, this is ground-breaking) that if I eat better and do some cross-training to strengthen my body, running will come easier. Revolutionary, I know. So I’ve been doing some intense power yoga on the days I’m not running. I also have been meaning to eat better but haven’t quite achieved that one yet. Baby steps.

Anyways, other than that, we’ve been busy with house showings and such. More on that soon.

10 Responses to “Couch to 10k. Emphasis on the Couch.”

Way to go! While I’m not so much into running these days (you understand… the twins invading my body thing) it’s a great feeling to set a goal and stick to it. I’m sure it’s also a great feeling to miss out on naked tantrum. ha!